Hi everybody! I just joined and this is my first post. I am 46 years old and one of those guys who was a rink rat in the late 1970's and early 1980's. I am getting back into skating because I really miss the fun I had back then. Also, I have a 12 year old daughter who loves it. We started going a few months ago and I fell in love with it again. There are 3 wood-floor rinks within an hour drive from my house. It's a bit different than having 5 rinks within 10 minutes of your house back in the 1970's, but what can you do.

I live in Massachusetts now, but grew up in Connecticut. My home rink was the Skating Palace of Wallingford in Wallingford, Connecticut. I practically lived there for 3 years. I was a member of the Palace Pacers speed team and also skated competitively throughout New England. Believe it or not, I can be seen in a YouTube video titled Wallingford Skating Palace 1979. If you have 6 minutes and 43 seconds to kill, check it out.

I am having a pair of skates built as we speak by East Coast Roller Sports in Georgia. I chose the following to re-live my youth: Riedell 265 boots, SureGrip XK-4 DA 45 8mm plates with Red 93A replacement cushions, Bones Ceramic Super Reds bearings and Faster 97A Natural Tire with hubs. I also picked-up a set of Labeda Stilettos Ruby Red 97A standards (62mm x 44mm) to experiment with as well.

As you can probably tell from this set-up, I am interested in getting back into speed skating again. The rink that has the best skating near me is called Forrest's Family Fun Center in Taunton, MA (I believe it used to be called Silver City Sports Complex). The new owner, Forrest, really knows what he is doing.

I am also looking to restore a pair of Riedell size 13 speed skates from the late 1970's - early 1980's era. Specifically, the Riedell 265 boot with twin double stripes from these skates is what I am really interested in. These are incredibly hard to find and most of the time the rest of the skate is rusted, damaged or beat-up beyond repair. If anyone has a pair or knows of a pair of 265 boots in size 13 from this era, I would be interested. Thanks and look forward to hearing from you guys!